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escape from stucktopia: modern myth & jung's path to individuation
A recent opinion piece from the NYTimes (“Welcome to Stucktopia” by Hillary Kelly) says, “Television has managed to uncannily capture the...

Laura Beth Wenger
Jul 12, 20244 min read


keep your projections to yourself: encountering jung's shadow in group fitness
Maybe a yoga class is the last place you think you'll be running into what Jung called "the shadow." If you've taken a group fitness class in your life, you might think back and recall what you thought or felt about that instructor/teacher. Or you might think about how it seemed that others treated that person. Were they treated as a real person, or as an idealized version of what others think or feel they should be? It's likely that at least some of the class participants (i

Laura Beth Wenger
May 6, 20243 min read


authenticity and non-directive therapy: what's "right for us" is what matters most
The year was 1992. I was a high school freshman in Mr. Eisenblatter’s art class, and the assignment was to draw a potato. The potato sat...

Laura Beth Wenger
Nov 4, 20234 min read


when your anxiety lives in your body, talk therapy isn't enough
the somatic connection in psychotherapy I'm a big supporter of psychotherapy. In fact, I just started my Master's Degree in Clinical...

Laura Beth Wenger
Aug 4, 20235 min read


training a healthy ego for individuation
Show of hands: how many of us think of the ego as a "bad thing"-- something we should be trying to get rid of? 🙋🏼♀️ It's not uncommon...

Laura Beth Wenger
Jul 10, 20234 min read


shame & blame
How do we own what's ours within systems of unequal power distribution? Recently, a friend of mine and her partner found themselves in a...

Laura Beth Wenger
May 22, 20234 min read


what is good posture, anyway?
and can we breathe well in that shape? Many of us learned how to hold our bodies from family or authority figures at a young age. "Pull your shoulders back!" "Don't slouch!," we were told. And so, we learned to stand, and sit, with our ribcage forward, and our shoulders "back." In the gym, we might sometimes hear "proud chest" as a cue not to slouch forward. We tend to think of this as "standing up straight," or having "good posture." But if we take a look at this image of a

Laura Beth Wenger
Apr 20, 20234 min read


yoga teachers: are we teaching presence or inviting dissociation?
In my last post, we took a look at what we’re actually trying to accomplish when we sit down to meditate. TLDR (too long, didn’t read?):...

Laura Beth Wenger
Mar 21, 20233 min read


practicing presence: embodiment, dissociation & meditation
Why do we meditate? Or, if we don’t, why do we think we should meditate? For many folks, the goal is to be more mindful. We want to enjoy...

Laura Beth Wenger
Mar 21, 20235 min read


emotional labor: dissociation for hire
A few weeks ago, over the holidays, I was in line at a Starbucks when the mother of one of the employees came into the store to surprise...

Laura Beth Wenger
Jan 25, 20237 min read


will movement cure your anxiety?
If you’re someone who works with anxiety, you already know how overwhelming it can be. This is especially true for folks with a history...

Laura Beth Wenger
Dec 22, 20224 min read


imposter syndrome isn’t your fault
If you’re like me, you’ve experienced Imposter Syndrome in your lifetime– that sense that you should know more than you do, that you’re...

Laura Beth Wenger
Dec 15, 20222 min read


perception is embodied (but what does that mean?)
Of course, we all know that each of us sees things a little differently. For example, if you’re lactose intolerant (or a vegan), dairy...

Laura Beth Wenger
Sep 1, 20224 min read


what is bilateral stimulation?
In 1987, Dr. Francine Shapiro went for a walk. As she walked, she noticed that her eyes were moving from side to side, and that some...

Laura Beth Wenger
Aug 28, 20222 min read


open to new patterns
three important lessons from The New York Times’ “Spelling Bee” game I love words and word games. I love etymology, the nuanced imagery...

Laura Beth Wenger
Aug 9, 20224 min read


working hard is not the same as suffering
I’m going to say something a little revolutionary here: it’s possible to work hard without feeling absolutely terrible. I think our...

Laura Beth Wenger
Jul 25, 20223 min read


awakening intuition through embodied practice
Our intuition is our gut instinct, our deeper knowing, Jung’s “perception via the unconscious,” which guides us when logical information...

Laura Beth Wenger
Jul 18, 20224 min read


intuition: perception beyond the conscious
Have you ever met a new person and felt an immediate sense of unease or distrust– something about them just doesn’t feel “right”? They...

Laura Beth Wenger
Jun 10, 20224 min read


resentment doesn’t mean you're a bad practitioner
One thing that we don’t speak about in the movement/wellness/healing arts world is resentment. It feels a little weird to even type that...

Laura Beth Wenger
May 31, 20223 min read


things not to apologize for
to your movement/wellness professional (yoga teacher, personal trainer, coach, etc.) I wrote this post the other day after a few sessions...

Laura Beth Wenger
Apr 13, 20223 min read
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